When you go to the polls today, remember that all House and Senate Democrats voted against the One Big Beautiful Bill Act which created deductions for qualified tips (up to $25,000 in eligible occupations), overtime, and a $6,000 senior deduction that effectively eliminated taxes on Social Security for many seniors.
For many voters, the potential tax increase necessary to fund the Democrats’ many freebies and other vote buying schemes, such as universal Medicare, free college, student loan forgiveness, free daycare and free school meals, is enough to generate a vote for any Republican who opposes this massive raid on the pocketbooks of working Americans.
But as our friend Steve Moore reminded us in a recent issue of his must-read Committee to Unleash Prosperity Hotline, there are other tax measures on state ballots across the country, many of them with the potential to transfer vast amounts of wealth to, or away from, government.
According to Steve’s research voters will decide the fate of 59 ballot initiatives affecting taxes and spending. In his coverage of the subject, he highlighted eight that could have a big impact on the economy:
- In California, Proposition 40 would impose a "one-time" 5% wealth tax on people with holdings that top $1 billion, with the revenue used to fund the healthcare priorities of public employee unions.
- Also in California, Proposition 3, meanwhile, would make permanent the state's top tax rate for high-income earners which now stands at 13.3%, the highest in the nation.
- Colorado: Proposition NN would allow the state to retain revenue above the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) limit rather than refund it to the people. Voters will also choose between Amendment 87 – which would enact the state's first progressive income tax – and Proposition 136, which would cap the state’s tax rate at a flat 4.4%, its current rate. Democratic Governor Jared Polis opposes the tax hike and wants to keep the flat 4.4% rate.
- Washington: Initiative 645 would repeal the newly enacted 9.9% tax on wage income above $1 million and prohibit future income taxes. The repeal would stop a projected $3.1 billion annual tax increase, which it describes as the largest tax hike in state history.
- In Florida, where ballot measures must receive at least 60% support to pass, Amendment 3 would dramatically increase the property tax exemption and limit how localities can spend property tax revenue.
- Massachusetts: Question 5 would establish a long-needed state revenue limit tied to wage and salary growth, with revenue above the limit returned to taxpayers rather than spent or placed in reserves.
Going through all 59 ballot measures is beyond the scope of this article, so we will highlight three on which we can make recommendations.
We recommend a YES vote on Florida’s Amendment 3, which would make a substantial cut in property taxes for most homeowners.
Florida Amendment 3 raises the homestead exemption for non-school taxes to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, with future adjustments for inflation. Homeowners will still pay the school-tax portion of their bill. Apartments and storefronts would also see their annual assessment cap reduced from 10% to 5%.
The amendment also instructs counties and cities to spend property-tax money on the essentials: public safety, education, infrastructure, natural resources, debt, pensions and basic operations. School millage does not move, protecting public education, although critics could fairly say it is subject to the same property value tax windfall bloat that has fueled the growth of government across all of Florida’s local government bureaucracies. We urge Florida’s voters to vote YES on Amendment 3.
We recommend a NO vote on Colorado’s Proposition NN, which would allow the state to retain revenue above the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) limit rather than refund it to the people.
The Colorado Union of Taxpayers (CUT) urges a no vote on Proposition NN and we agree because it amounts to a bait and switch to eliminate the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) limit thereby increasing property taxes on every Colorado property owner who now benefits from the cap.
The measure that put Proposition NN on the ballot states that K-12 funding would increase by up to 2% a year for ten years and that excess taxes collected beyond that would go to a “children’s account.” This language implies that the spending is focused on kids. However, much of the money will be funneled to bureaucracies, liberal NGOs, and the pockets of the people who manage the programs “for the children.” And beginning in fiscal year 2036-37 the retained revenue goes first to homestead property tax reimbursements and then will be spent “as determined by the state legislature.”
That is nothing more than a stealth plan to steal the property tax refunds promised to Coloradans to create a slush fund for state legislators to disburse to their favorite pork barrel projects. We urge Colorado voters to vote NO on Proposition NN.
Finally, we urge a YES vote on Washington’s Initiative 645, which would repeal the newly enacted 9.9% tax on wage income above $1 million and prohibit future income taxes.
Washington’s new 9.9% tax would be among the highest rates in the country. As Patrick Connor, state director for the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) in Washington explained, “The state’s new income tax specifically targets small business owners who report business earnings and expenses on their personal income tax returns, while completely exempting big businesses and other full c-corporations.”
Many small businesses report their earnings through their owners’ personal tax returns. Approximately 85% of small businesses are organized this way.
That means business income can be treated as personal income for tax purposes, even when those dollars stay in the business. For many business owners, Washington’s “millionaire tax” is really a tax on their business, which is a tax on entrepreneurship, start-ups and the small suppliers and outside vendors that support Washington’s major industries.
The economic cancer of this approach to taxation could spread to other states and should be stopped with a YES vote to repeal Washington’s 9.9% tax on wage income above $1 million and prohibit future income taxes.
